Select Billing Location to Modify

Effective June 30, 2018, if you have not upgraded to a current browser you will no longer be able to view or make transactions on MerckVaccines.com. To protect your credit card information, Merck follows security requirements mandated by the PCI Security Standards Council. The PCI Security Standards Council has mandated that all companies that transact payments with credit cards must restrict the use of insecure browsers.

Do not administer VARIVAX to individuals with: a history of severe allergic reaction to any component of the vaccine (including neomycin and gelatin) or to a previous dose of varicella vaccine; immunosuppressed or immunodeficient individuals, including those with a history of primary or acquired immunodeficiency states, leukemia, lymphoma, or other malignant neoplasms affecting the bone marrow or lymphatic system, AIDS, or receiving immunosuppressive therapy; any febrile illness or active infection, untreated tuberculosis; or those who are pregnant.

Evaluate individuals for immune competence prior to administration of VARIVAX if there is a family history of immunodeficiency. Vaccine recipients should avoid contact with high-risk individuals susceptible to varicella due to possible risk of transmission. Defer vaccination for ≥5 months following blood or plasma transfusions or administration of immune globulins. Avoid use of salicylates for 6 weeks following administration of VARIVAX to children and adolescents.

In a clinical trial involving children who received 2 doses of VARIVAX 3 months apart, the incidence of injection-site clinical complaints (primarily erythema and swelling) observed in the first 4 days following vaccination was slightly higher post-dose 2 (overall incidence 25.4%) than post-dose 1 (overall incidence 21.7%), whereas the incidence of systemic clinical complaints in the 42-day follow-up period was lower post-dose 2 (66.3%) than post-dose 1 (85.8%).

There are insufficient data to assess the rate of protection of VARIVAX against the serious complications of chickenpox in adults (eg, encephalitis, hepatitis, pneumonia), and during pregnancy (congenital varicella syndrome).

The duration of protection from varicella infection after vaccination with VARIVAX is unknown.

Vaccination with VARIVAX may not result in protection of all healthy, susceptible children, adolescents, and adults.

A boost in antibody levels has been observed in vaccinees following exposure to wild-type varicella, which could account for the apparent long-term persistence of antibody levels in these studies.

Due to the concern for transmission of vaccine virus, vaccine recipients should attempt to avoid, whenever possible, close association with susceptible high-risk individuals for up to 6 weeks following vaccination.

VARIVAX is contraindicated for use in pregnant women because the vaccine contains live, attenuated varicella virus, and it is known that wild-type varicella virus, if acquired during pregnancy, can cause congenital varicella.

It is not known whether varicella vaccine virus is excreted in human milk.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/admin/storage/toolkit/storage-handling-toolkit.pdf. Published June 2016. Accessed August 29, 2017.

6.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Recommended immunization schedule for children and adolescents aged 18 years or younger, United States, 2017. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/schedules/downloads/child/0-18yrs-child-combined-schedule.pdf. Effective January 1, 2017. Accessed August 29, 2017.

Take a 2nd look...

Appropriate adolescents may still be without their 2nd dose of VARIVAX1,2

Do not administer VARIVAX to individuals with: a history of severe allergic reaction to any component of the vaccine (including neomycin and gelatin) or to a previous dose of varicella vaccine; immunosuppressed or immunodeficient individuals, including those with a history of primary or acquired immunodeficiency states, leukemia, lymphoma, or other malignant neoplasms affecting the bone marrow or lymphatic system, AIDS, or receiving immunosuppressive therapy; any febrile illness or active infection, untreated tuberculosis; or those who are pregnant.

Evaluate individuals for immune competence prior to administration of VARIVAX if there is a family history of immunodeficiency. Vaccine recipients should avoid contact with high-risk individuals susceptible to varicella due to possible risk of transmission. Defer vaccination for ≥5 months following blood or plasma transfusions or administration of immune globulins. Avoid use of salicylates for 6 weeks following administration of VARIVAX to children and adolescents.

In a clinical trial involving children who received 2 doses of VARIVAX 3 months apart, the incidence of injection-site clinical complaints (primarily erythema and swelling) observed in the first 4 days following vaccination was slightly higher post-dose 2 (overall incidence 25.4%) than post-dose 1 (overall incidence 21.7%), whereas the incidence of systemic clinical complaints in the 42-day follow-up period was lower post-dose 2 (66.3%) than post-dose 1 (85.8%).

There are insufficient data to assess the rate of protection of VARIVAX against the serious complications of chickenpox in adults (eg, encephalitis, hepatitis, pneumonia), and during pregnancy (congenital varicella syndrome).

The duration of protection from varicella infection after vaccination with VARIVAX is unknown.

Vaccination with VARIVAX may not result in protection of all healthy, susceptible children, adolescents, and adults.

A boost in antibody levels has been observed in vaccinees following exposure to wild-type varicella, which could account for the apparent long-term persistence of antibody levels in these studies.

Due to the concern for transmission of vaccine virus, vaccine recipients should attempt to avoid, whenever possible, close association with susceptible high-risk individuals for up to 6 weeks following vaccination.

VARIVAX is contraindicated for use in pregnant women because the vaccine contains live, attenuated varicella virus, and it is known that wild-type varicella virus, if acquired during pregnancy, can cause congenital varicella.

It is not known whether varicella vaccine virus is excreted in human milk.

aData from a 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) national survey (N=20,475 adolescents) showed that an estimated 85.6% of teens aged 13 to 17 years with no history of chickenpox had received at least 2 doses of the varicella vaccine. The CDC analyzed data from the National Immunization Survey (NIS)–Teen to estimate adolescent vaccination coverage in the United States. Immunization data were collected through telephone interviews via randomly selected numbers and confirmed through records supplied by the adolescents’ health care providers. Adolescents in the 2016 NIS–Teen were born during January 1998–February 2004. Vaccination coverage estimates include only adolescents who had adequately completed provider-reported immunization records.1,2